


age-old question

by kuro49



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Drabble, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28727850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuro49/pseuds/kuro49
Summary: It’s the way the old man— akid, now and just, wow— still has the audacity to blink those big baby blues at Jason like he’s only got eyes for him.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 10
Kudos: 159





	age-old question

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by [tigerinmarch's super adorable brujay art](https://tigerinmarch.tumblr.com/post/639448450797322240) that's got me LIVING. baby bruce claiming jason for himself 👌😳💖 originally posted to tumblr.

"Finder's keepers!" Dick has called out just as quickly as he makes his leave, and then it’s just Jason standing in the middle of the Cave with Bruce holding on to him not unlike a koala to a tree.

They make full eye contact.

“Well,” Jason stops just as abruptly as he starts because frankly, he’s got no idea where to go from here when he can’t even hold that stare, being the first one to have to look away.

It’s the way the old man— _a kid_ , now and just, _wow_ — still has the audacity to blink those big baby blues at Jason like he’s only got eyes for him.

It’s an expression that Jason wishes he could call an unfamiliar one. But it’s not. Not by a long shot. Not when Jason’s had that same expression on his own face for the longest time, thirteen years old and sneaking glances to Batman with Robin magic at his fingertips.

Even with no one else around now, Jason doesn’t understand what it is about himself that makes Bruce want to stay close. Too tall, too broad, too mean when his scowl is practically etched into his face but damn, if that doesn’t remind himself of someone he knows (like father, like— he cuts that thought off at the head).

Jason goes to set Bruce down on the ground.

But the kid makes a sound in protest, the loudest one yet given his previous silence along with that pointed stare. And then he is clinging to Jason even harder than before. He’s got a vice grip that Jason wasn’t sure a child of Bruce’s current size would be capable of. Figures, baby Bruce would still be worthy of the Batman mantle even when he gets magicked in to something more pocket-sized.

It is only then that what Dick said finally clicks into place: He doesn’t find Bruce, not the first time and most definitely not this time either.

It’s Bruce that finds him.

(He wasn’t even supposed to be in the Cave just now, Jason only came by to dig through the old archive that was never uploaded into the existing network. It was Bruce on the back of Dick’s motorcycle being set down to the ground before he walks right to him. Dick following with barely half an explanation before he had to take off for the secondary scene that Damian is currently holding.)

“Jay, stay.” Little Bruce says, his voice is quiet, is steady. Like he’s been waiting for Jason to figure it all out.

It’s a different kind of recognition, the kind that doesn’t come with years of misery and then years more of a cold war held over the roof tops of Gotham. This is the kind without any baggage at all. Just trust as Bruce extends his hand, small palm upturned.

And he isn’t asking.

Jason wonders if there is any version of himself that has the heart to turn it down. He’s pretty sure when he thinks: _No_ , there really isn’t.

He’s been Bruce’s to keep ever since the very first time. Jason goes red with the realization, a mumble that dissipates between the barest of space still left between them.

“That’s cheating, B.” And he is crimson up to the tips of his ears, “I can’t hit a fuckin’ _kid_ even if it’s you.”


End file.
